


You Make Me Feel Mighty Real

by outofaith



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: Alcohol, Awesome Donna, Bisexual Eric Forman, But only if you squint, F/M, Getting Together, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Recreational Drug Use, Underage Drinking, Weed, buddy's siblings are great, hyde is very protective of his best friend, jackie and buddy are gossip buds, kitty forman is a wine mom, red forman is a great dad, supportive parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:42:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outofaith/pseuds/outofaith
Summary: Eric supposes a lot of things could go wrong at any minute, turns out, that’s not really the case. Maybe Red had it right: Eric was a dumbass.
Relationships: Eric Forman/Buddy Morgan, Jackie Burkhart/Michael Kelso, Steven Hyde/Donna Pinciotti
Comments: 8
Kudos: 141





	You Make Me Feel Mighty Real

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Hope you like it!

Eric was in a bit of a daze. To be honest, he was pretty sure Red would be thrilled to announce that Eric was, indeed, a dumbass. His friends were sitting around him in the basement. Hyde was sprouting something about corporations and the Congress, Kelso was pretending to be paying attention to whatever Jackie was telling him, Fez looked enthralled by the TV and Donna was giving him this side-glances, like she knew something was up but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. He could hear his mother upstairs singing along to something or another.

“Are you okay?” Donna asked him quietly and Eric swallowed around the lump on his throat. He nodded and when she kept looking at him he forced himself to chuckle awkwardly. “What? Yeah, I’m fine. Great!”

Donna didn’t seem convinced, she squinted at him and pursed her lips. “Where’s Buddy anyway? I thought you guys were hanging out today,” Eric’s face felt warm all of a sudden and he tried his very best to seem nonchalant. “Something came up with his siblings so he had to go home,” She still looked suspicious but dropped it in favor of telling Hyde off for being a jerk. 

Eric took the opportunity to study their interaction. Him and Donna, they were history by now. They reached the same conclusion after a very uncomfortable night when Bob and Midge were out of town and Donna’s sister went to a sleepover. They took the opportunity to enjoy the empty house. They were making out, and it was very stilted and full of awkward moments when neither of them knew what to do. Finally, Donna had had enough. She had sighed and, after a long pause, told him very bluntly that it felt like kissing her brother. Eric’s first reaction was to try to come up with something to change her mind but then he found that he couldn’t. They had talked then, and decided together that they had been best friends since they were little kids, and were, in fact, like siblings. So, that was the end of their very brief relationship. Now Donna was having this weird kind of flirting with Hyde, but she looked happy enough for the time being and, honestly, his two best friends were happy so he was happy for them as well.

Eventually, his mind circled back to the events that took place the previous night. Buddy had invited him to go to the movies and it was really great. Only, when they were back inside the car, they started talking and then Buddy had kissed him. The big problem wasn’t the fact that he had been kissed - by a dude - but that he had actually kissed back. So what should have been a weird situation that according to society should have grossed him out, turned out to be a full on make out session that left Eric breathless and lightheaded, mainly because all of his blood had seemed to have rushed down south. The ride home had been quiet, it wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but it was a bit suffocating. When they reached his house, Buddy had looked at him with big, kind eyes that had this serious look to them and a small, comforting smile. “I’m sorry for kissing you,” He had said and Eric kept quiet for a couple of minutes only to assure in a voice so quiet it might as well have been a whisper that he didn’t have to be sorry. The _“I kissed you back, I liked it”_ went unsaid, but it was as clear as day. “You know, it’s okay to be confused, Eric.” Buddy told him and Eric nodded, gave him a small smile, bid him good-night and went inside his house.

So, that had been the weirdest night of Eric’s young life, it left him confused, aroused and with a kind of adrenaline rush that he had never felt before. 

/break/

A week went by and then Eric found himself standing in front of large double doors, wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers before knocking on the door before he talked himself out of it. Quickly, a brunette girl that looked a lot like Buddy, only older, she looked like she might have been in college, opened the door. She was taller than Eric, just like Buddy, only she had bright green eyes. “Can I help you?” She asked him with a small smile, a cigarette dangling from her fingers. “Uh, hi! Is Buddy home?” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously so he quickly added. “I’m Eric, I go to school with him, we’re chemistry partners,”

“Right,” She nodded at him and gave him a smile. “Come on in, he’s upstairs in his room.” She told him and brought the cigarette to her lips. “I’m Violet, by the way, Buddy’s sister. Go on, his bedroom is the third door to the right.”

“Thanks,” He said with a small smile and made his way up the stairs. The Morgan Estate with enormous and not like anything Eric had ever seen, but he was too nervous to actually admire it. He reached the door, took a bracing breath and knocked twice. “I’m not hungry, Vi! I’ll be down later for dinner.” Buddy’s voice filtered through the mahogany door.

“Not Violet.” He answered, he heard a muted sound, like something had hit the floor and then Buddy was opening the door and staring down at him with wide eyes. And, really, Buddy was only three inches taller than him, but the way he held himself made him look like he was towering over everyone else. “Hey,” Eric greeted with a shy smile.

“Hey yourself,” Was the response, they stood there a bit awkwardly until Buddy seemed to shake himself from his stupor and invited him inside.

Once the door closed behind them, Eric started talking before what little confidence he had left him completely. “I’m sorry for coming here without talking to you first, but I just had to before I talked myself out of it.” He started and Buddy only looked at him from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry for being weird this week, that was a dick move. I know it’s not really an excuse, but I was really confused, man; My mind was going crazy and I just needed some time to think.” He said it all in one breath and Buddy looked mildly concerned.

“Eric,” He started, looking at him with so much fucking care on his eyes, Eric kind of wanted to scream. Just a little bit. “Calm down, you need to breathe.” That was good advice, Eric thought faintly. He forced himself to calm down, although he felt like Buddy could hear his heart racing in his chest.

“Look, Buddy, I’m sorry for being a dick.” He said in a low voice, Buddy looked ready to interrupt, but Eric stopped him with a shake of his head. “Just, let me speak before I lose my nerve?” He chuckled nervously. “It wasn’t because you kis- kissed me.” He stumbled over the word, but he was determined to get them out. “It was because I kissed back.” He raised his eyes so he was looking at the other boy. “And because I liked it. I mean, really liked it.” His voice was low and his face felt like it was on fire, but the soft smile Buddy gave him made the weight on his chest feel a little bit lighter. “And then, after that, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. About you. Which was really distracting, man. And my mind was going crazy ‘cause I didn’t know if we were friends or something more, and that was a bummer.”

Buddy was quiet for awhile, like he was thinking over his words, then he reached out to take Eric’s hand and pulled him closer to where he was sitting, until Eric was standing between his legs. “We’re still friends, Eric. If anything, I was scared _you_ wouldn’t want to hang out anymore.” He said, his eyes locked with Eric’s. “And we can be more than friends, you know? If you want to. If you’re _comfortable_ with it.” He gave Eric a moment so his words would sink in and when Eric didn’t look like he would bolt, he started talking again. “I didn’t mean to make you feel pressured or anything.” 

“You didn’t.” Eric told him, he chewed on his lower lip for a moment before making up his mind. “I’m new to this whole thing, you know that. So I might be, you know, kind of freaked out by some things.” He said and Buddy’s eyes looked hopeful. “And we need to take this slow, you know?” He said and gave the dark haired boy a small smile.

“We’ll take it as slow as you’re comfortable with, okay?” Buddy told him, he had a beaming smile on his face and Eric couldn’t help but return it.

“Do we have to tell anyone?” Eric asked and his nervousness came back full force. Buddy pulled his hand until he sat down beside him, then he turned, one of his legs propped on the bed, his hands toying with Eric’s. “We don’t have to. I mean, my siblings will know the moment they take a look at us, they’re good like that. But other than that, it’s up to you. You can tell your friends if you like, it doesn’t really matter to me.”

Eric nodded. “So, we’re uh-” He stumbled over the words and Buddy laughed a little, it was a kind laugh that made Eric’s stomach flutter like he was Jackie. “Boyfriends?” Buddy offered and Eric felt his face heating again, but he just nodded.

“Yeah, that.” He smiled. “Boyfriends,” He tested the word on his mouth. “I like that.” Buddy smiled at him and Eric leaned forward slowly, carefully, until they were kissing. It was a slow kiss, nothing like the one they shared on the car, this one felt like the beginning of something great.

There was a knock on the door then and they separated quickly. “Hey kid, Vi is calling everyone downstairs for dinner. Is your friend staying? ‘Cause then Stella will set up another plate.” It was a guy’s voice and Buddy looked at him expectantly.

“Do you wanna stay for dinner? It’s just my siblings and me.” He said and Eric thought for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, Evan. He’s staying, we’ll be down in a minute.” He called back and then they heard footsteps going down the hall.

“So, what do I have to do so your siblings like me?” Eric asked and Buddy laughed at him.

“Nothing, man. We’re all really close, I’m the youngest, then there’s Evan and Ethan, they’re twins, and Violet is the oldest of us. The guys are in college in L.A. and Violet is all the way in Massachusetts for law-school with her fiancé. They all came down for a few days, mom and dad are away for work for a month, they always come down when it’s more than a week.” He smiled, the love for his siblings clear as day. 

“Seems like you guys are really close,” Eric said with a smile and Buddy nodded, chuckling a bit. “Our parents worked a lot when we were younger, a lot of late nights on the office and business trips, so it was just the four of us. I mean, the maids were around, but Violet was the one always taking care of us.”

“So, I'm basically going to meet your siblings slash parents. Great, that doesn’t make me nervous at all!” He said cheerfully and Buddy laughed at him as he stood up, pulling Eric by the hand. “It’s going to be fine.”

Eric nodded, but he didn’t look entirely convinced. They walked down the stairs and Buddy guided him through a maze of grand rooms, until they reached the dinner room. And, okay, wow! That was amazing. They unclasped their hands before walking into the room where Buddy’s siblings were sitting around the table, drinking wine and laughing.

“Hey, Buddy!” One of the guys asked, “Who’s your friend? Evan told us about him!” They had just sat down and Eric looked up to see all three of them looking at him and Buddy with open expressions and playful smiles. He noticed that the guys looked exactly the same, apart from the eyes, the one who spoke, Ethan, had brown eyes, just like Buddy’s, while his twin had green eyes, like their sister.

“This is Eric, we go to school together.” Buddy introduced, “Eric, these are my brothers, Evan and Ethan and you’ve met my sister Violet.” He pointed at each one of them. “Hi, nice to meet you guys,” Eric greeted with a nervous smile.

They ate dinner and dessert and then Buddy’s siblings were talking in the living room and smoking. Eric looked at the clock and groaned under his breath, Red was going to kill him. “I really have to go, I didn’t tell my parents I wouldn’t be home for dinner.” Buddy nodded at him. “I’ll walk you out.”

Eric turned to where the others were standing and found them looking at the two of them with small smiles. “So, uh, I have to go home.” Eric started. “But it was really nice meeting you guys.” He said and all three smiled at him, walking over and shaking his hand. 

“Nice meeting you, kid.” Ethan said, before stepping aside so his brother could shake Eric’s hand as well. Then he was standing in front of Violet as she studied him with calculating eyes.

Eric was pretty fucking nervous. The brothers were cool, built like walls but they seemed to have liked him. But the sister, that was a different story, this woman had basically raised her brothers and he could tell from the way they interacted during dinner that they all respected her opinion above everything else. Before Eric could die of nerves though, she smiled at him, her smile was a lot like Buddy’s, it made dimples appear on her cheeks and it lit up her entire face. “It was really nice meeting you, Eric. I trust we’ll be seeing a lot of you then?” She said and Eric’s eyes widened. 

He went to shake her hand, but she pulled him into a hug. “I like you, kid. Take care of my little brother, you hear me?” She whispered in his ear and he hugged her a little tighter in response, before letting her go.

Buddy looked at them like he knew what had just happened, so he put his hand to the small of Eric’s back as he guided him to the front door. “That was really nice.” Eric confessed, “Thanks for letting me stay.”

“I’m glad you did,” Buddy told him with a smile, “Good-night, Buddy.” Eric said with a smile and Buddy smiled back. “Night, Eric.” Then before Eric could turn, Buddy was cupping his cheek and leaning down to kiss him.

They kissed for a bit until they heard a whistle from somewhere near the entrance of the foyer and then, “You owe me 10 bucks, Evan. Told you they were going to kiss good-night.” They separated and looked in the direction of the voice where Buddy’s siblings were standing with smug smiles.

“You guys are the worst,” Buddy told them, but there was no heat to his words, Eric laughed, a bit embarrassed. “Nice going, kid. Keep this one, we like him.” Evan said before the three of them turned around and left the room.

Buddy looked apologetic, but Eric kissed him before he could say sorry.

/break/

Things between him and Buddy were going great. They met after school, sometimes they hung with his friends in the basement, and even if they hadn’t told them about the little fact that they were dating, Donna and Hyde looked at them with those knowing gazes and small grins. It made Eric feel unsettled, Buddy would only roll his eyes and laugh under his breath.

There was even a very nerve wracking situation where Kitty had invited Buddy to stay over for dinner when they had spent the day cramming for a mid-term. Eric thought that he might faint from how nervous he was during the entire time. But it went just fine, Kitty was overjoyed to be able to cook for a guest and Red was impressed with the fact that Buddy was his friend. Not to mention the fact that Red found out about the Trans Am and spent an entire hour admiring it. After that, Kitty insisted that Buddy stayed for dinner at least once a week when they were studying, and once she found out about Buddy’s parents traveling a lot, she made him promise that he would stop by for breakfast. 

So, they were all in the basement, Buddy wasn’t there, his siblings were in town and he wanted to spend time with them. “So, Forman, where’s the boyfriend?” Hyde asked with a teasing tone and a playful smile. Donna hit his arm and looked at Eric with an apologetic look. “Where’s Buddy?”

“His siblings are in town, so they’re all having dinner together.” Eric told her. Kelso looked at him with a weird expression and Eric didn’t like that one bit. “You know man, you need to spend more time with us.” He said and Eric’s eyebrows climbed up. “We don’t care about the whole…” He gestured with his hands like he didn’t really know what to say. “The whole Buddy stuff,” He finally settled. “But you’re never around anymore.”

Eric studied Kelso for a moment. He always forgot that Kelso was actually a great friend. “What do you mean “Buddy stuff”?” He played dumb and all of his friends rolled his eyes at him like he was the dumbest person alive.

“Buddy is so obviously gay, Eric.” Fez told him very slowly, like Eric was a little kid. “And you are always together, and you look at each other with the same look Hyde has when he’s talking about conspiracies of the government.” Donna stifled a chuckle at that and Hyde tossed a pillow at Fez, hitting him square on the face.

Jackie huffed at him and proceeded to speak on a haughty voice. “Eric, Buddy is rich and popular, he would never spend so much time with you if he didn’t like you.” She said and Eric felt a bit attacked.

“It’s all good, man.” Hyde told him. “It’s cool, just don’t disappear on us like that, man.” He looked at his friends and found all of them looking back at him with smiles. “Thanks, guys. I promise I’ll be around more.” He said.

And that was that.

/break/

His relationship with Buddy was going great, his friends were assholes but they accepted Buddy very quickly. Him and Jackie actually ran the same circle and so did their parents, so they ended up becoming quick friends and, thanks to that, Eric knew everything that happened around town, because Jackie liked to gossip and Buddy was always willing to hear all about it.

Donna and Hyde were now a thing and Donna bullied Hyde into being nice, so Buddy was more often than not with them whenever they hung out. Rumour about him and Buddy went around school, apparently people did notice when two guys spent a lot of time together, but Buddy was rich and popular and everyone liked him so no one was outright being a dick to them. Well, mostly. There had been one incident when a guy thought it would be cool to push Eric against a locker and call him some very colorful names, to their surprise, Hyde had punched the guy and actually broken his nose, then Kelso had kicked him on the balls. After that, Jackie had made sure to mark the guy as an outsider from every social circle. No one said anything to them after that. But people whispered, they knew that, but they agreed to ignore it. 

So, it was Friday evening, Kitty and Red were in the living room and Eric was on his way down to the driveway to meet everyone else, they were all going to this summer house Jackie’s parents owned, when Red called him over. “Eric,” Red beckoned him to the corner of the room. “You have been spending a hell of a lot of time with that Buddy kid,” He had said and it wasn’t a question, when it came to Red, it very rarely was. “Yes sir,” 

Was the response and Red studied for a moment, Kitty had stopped her humming and was looking at them carefully. “I like him, he’s a good kid.” Red said. “Tell him that he can come around for dinner more often,” Eric felt like he was going to pass out, his whole body was rigid with tension. “Don’t let me catch you two doing whatever the hell it is that you do,” His face was stern and, yep, Eric was going to die, right there and then. “And if anyone bothers you two or say anything, you tell me and I’ll shove both my feet so far up their ass it’ll come out through their mouth, you hear me?” 

Eric’s brain was taking longer than usual to process those words, he was dreaming, he was sure, was going to wake up anytime now with Red yelling at him that he was a dumbass for sleeping in and that he was going to be late. “Hey, dumbass, you hear me or not?” His dad barked at him. When Eric came back to reality he looked at Red with wide eyes, his father looked stern and a little bit uncomfortable, but his eyes were looking at Eric with a lot of care and protectiveness. 

“Yes, sir, I hear you.” Eric finally answered and Red nodded once, turned around and fixed himself a drink. Kitty stood up and came to him, putting one hand to his cheek and giving him the most caring and motherly smile he remembered being directed at him. “You two be careful, Eric.” She said softly. “And tell him to come over this Sunday, I’m making pie.” She told him, laughed cheerfully and went to where his father was standing and offered her a glass of white wine.

Eric stood there, dazed, for a couple of seconds and then turned around with a cautious smile, making his way to the driveway.

He got to the driveway and everyone else was already there waiting for him, all ready to go, with suitcases filled with clothes, smuggled beer and a lot of pot, courtesy of Hyde. “Are you ready then, man? We’ve been waiting here for ages!” Kelso told him and Jackie smacked his arm. “Michael! We only just got here!”

“Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go then!” He said and everyone piled inside the Vista Cruiser, Hyde, Fez, Kelso and Jackie on the back, Buddy and Donna on the front seat with Eric, Buddy to his side.

They were halfway there, it was the middle of the night and everyone had fallen asleep. Jackie was draped over Kelso, Fez had his head tossed back and Hyde was leaning against the window. On the front seat, Donna had her arm pillowing her head against the passenger’s door. Eric glanced to the side and found Buddy wide awake. “Can’t sleep?” He asked and Buddy turned to give him a smile.

“Not really tired,” He said and promptly yawned, making Eric chuckle. He took his hand from the steering wheel to give a quick squeeze to the hand Buddy had placed on his thigh. Buddy squeezed back and huffed a small laugh. “I’m not falling asleep and leaving you alone, babe” 

Eric rolled his eyes and ignored the blush he could feel rise on his face at the now familiar pet-name. “I’m really glad you came with us,” He confessed and Buddy rewarded him with a big smile, dimples and all. “I’m glad too. It’ll be nice to spend some time away from Point Place, anyway.” Eric nodded, fully agreeing. He was about to say something else when his boyfriend yawned again. “Buddy, go to sleep,” He laughed a little, “But you’ll be alone and-” Eric rolled his eyes again, “It’s fine, go to sleep, we’re almost there anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Buddy asked, his eyes already closing. Before Eric could answer, though, Hyde’s sleep heavy voice filtered from the back seat.

“For fuck’s sake! Listen _babe_ , tell your boyfriend to go to sleep already so you’ll both shut up,” He groaned, only for quiet snickers to rise around the car, honestly, they were all sleeping two minutes ago, Eric had no privacy at all. Buddy looked at him with amused eyes and Eric shrugged at him, mouthing “I told you so”. Everyone quickly went back to sleep, Buddy scooted down the seat so he could rest his head on Eric’s shoulder and closed his eyes. He was out like a light.

Eric turned his head a little and pressed a secret kiss to the top of his boyfriend’s head and from the corner of his eye, he caught Donna looking at him with a small, private smile. She winked and went back to sleep. Eric turned his gaze back to the road, took one of his hands off of the steering wheel and rested it on top of Buddy’s thigh, his boyfriend, even asleep, entwined their fingers.

Eric decided that life was pretty good.

**Author's Note:**

> Please consider leaving me kudos if you like it! Also, give me a review on the comments!


End file.
